Saudi Aramco Reports $30B In Q2 Profits - A 40% Drop From Last Year

Saudi Aramco Q2 Report Breakdown

Saudi Aramco, the state-run oil company of Saudi Arabia, announced on Monday that it had made a profit of $30 billion in the second quarter report. However, this was a decline of nearly 40% from the same period last year, which the company attributed to lower oil prices.

Aramco’s total sales for the quarter were just over 400 billion riyals (around $106 billion), down from 562 billion riyals ($150 billion) the previous year.

In its earnings report to the Saudi stock exchange, Aramco stated that the decrease was mainly due to lower crude oil prices and declining refining and chemicals margins. The company’s net income for the quarter was 112.8 billion Saudi riyals ($30 billion), a drop of 37.8% from the second quarter of 2022 when it had earned 181.6 billion riyals ($48 billion).

Despite everything, Aramco still increased its dividend payout to investors to 110.18 billion riyals ($29.38 billion), which is higher than the $18.8 billion paid out in the second quarter of 2022. The dividend is linked to the company’s exceptional earnings from the previous year.

USOIL Technical outlook and final thoughts

From a technical perspective, both WTI and Brent finished last week strong before a slight gap higher over the weekend which has already been filled. WTI for its part remains inside the rising wedge pattern tapping the top on Friday before a move lower which has continued into the new week. There is also a potential golden cross pattern developing on the Daily Chart as we have the 50-MA eyeing a break above the 100-day MA which could see WTI rise higher following a brief retracement.

The current level of resistance for USOIL is at 83.42, which is an important point. If this resistance is broken, USOIL may reach the next resistance level at 94.16. However, it seems that the bulls are not yet prepared to take over. It is probable that there will be a retracement back to the 74.22 area, followed by further continuation towards the 66.91 and 64.33 areas.